Internationalisation of a contemporary Hindu Movement

Alexis Avdeeff (1, 2)

1 LISST - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires
2 IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry

In this paper I propose to analyse the apparent contradiction between the universalist ambition of The Art of Living Foundation and its nationalist orientations, as shown by the political stands of its founder and leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. First, I look at the genesis of the movement in order to understand both its reformist dimension within the Indian sub-continent and its universalist project. Then I will focus on the salient features of the transnational community, as well as its setting up around the figure of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Lastly, through an analysis of the guru political stands on the Indian scene and its reception by the transnational community, I stress the differences we can trace between European and Indian devotees in their own perception of the guru and his movement's aims.

Mots clés: guru; Hindu vitality; New Religious Movement; transnational community; yoga; Neo-hinduism; Neo-vedanta

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Religions; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Alexis Avdeeff. Internationalisation of a contemporary Hindu Movement: Between universalist ambition and nationalist orientations: the case of The Art of Living Foundation (Vyakti Vikas Kendra) and its transnational community. 21th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) - Panel 41 - "Religious Reform Movements in South Asia from Nineteenth Century to the Present" convened by Professor Gwilym Beckerlegge (The Open University, Manchester), European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS), Jul 2010, Bonn, Germany. ⟨hal-00975129⟩